Senator Cordy: Thank you, Senator Gold. I think these are steps that are going in the right direction, and tracking is certainly a strong first step.

You spoke about government departments, but has a specific government department or departments been tasked with tracking the progress on these initiatives to eliminate what are real barriers that Black Canadians face in the labour market? Are they being assessed regularly to determine their effectiveness? Sometimes we have programs that no one is ever assessing, so we don’t know whether they’re working or not. To follow up with that, are there specific markers, milestones or timelines that the public service is aiming for in meeting employment equity?

Hon. Jane Cordy: Senator Gold, recent data released by Statistics Canada shows some positive progress when it comes to higher education levels for Black Canadians, and this is good news. Statistics also show that the percentage of Black Canadians who achieved a bachelor’s degree or higher from a university is on par with the national average, and this is also good news. However, when it comes to employment, the statistics show that 16% of Black Canadians are overqualified for their job, so, Senator Gold, they’re underemployed. Black Canadians are still facing real barriers within the labour market.

Senator Gold, in the Government of Canada’s capacity as the largest single employer in Canada, with close to 320,000 public service employees across the country, what steps have been taken to remove these systemic barriers to equal access and equal opportunities within the public service for Black Canadians?